Obama continues populist drive to rally support for health reform

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama made a campaign-style speech Wednesday in front of a cheering crowd in St. Louis, Missouri, trying to gather the popular support for the health insurance reform.

"Let’s face it, people have lost faith in government. They had lost faith in government before I ran (for president) and it's been getting worse," Obama said, telling the crowd "the time to talk is over. It's time to vote" for health care reform.

Obama decried waste in government spending, saying "Washington is a place where tax dollars are often treated like Monopoly money -- they're bartered and traded, and they're divvied up among lobbyists and special interests, and where waste -- even billions of dollars of waste -- is accepted as the price of doing business."

He promised to rein in wasteful spending and fraud in healthcare system with the reform. He signed a memorandum earlier in the day, directing all federal departments and agencies to expand and intensify their use of specialized private auditors to root out improper payments.

Obama made a similar effort Monday, delivering a fiery speech in front of a Pennsylvanian audience, accusing health insurance company of arbitrarily raising premiums.

After almost a year's efforts, the health reform issue has divided the Congress, with Republicans standing against it in a rock-solid position, making Democratic unity, which is far from certain, ever more important.